Concept
Dravya
Overview
Dravya (Sanskrit: द्रव्य) means substance or entity. According to the Jain philosophy, the universe is made up of six eternal substances: sentient beings or souls (jīva), non-sentient substance or matter (pudgala), principle of motion (dharma), the principle of rest (adharma), space (ākāśa) and time (kāla). The latter five are united as the ajiva (the non-living). As per the Sanskrit etymology, dravya means substances or entity, but it may also mean real or fundamental categories.
Jain philosophers distinguish a substance from a body, or thing, by declaring the former as a simple element or reality while the latter as a compound of one or more substances or atoms. They claim that there can be a partial or total destruction of a body or thing, but no dravya can ever be destroyed. The Vaisheshika school of Indian philosophy also deals with a concept of dravya.
Overview adapted from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0; see the article history for authors).
Possible passages
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The Creator is called the God of the heavens and the God of the Universe, on account of the relations between Him and the heavens; He governs, and they are governed; the word elohim does not signify “master” in the sense of “owner”; it expresses the relation between His position in the totality of existing beings, and the position of the heavens or the Universe; He is God, not they, i.e., not the heavens. Note this…
Moses Maimonides, The guide for the perplexed
States what Dravya is.
The most extraneous part of the universe is what in modern times we call gross matter. The ancient Hindus called it the _Bhutas_, the external elements. There is one element which according to them is eternal; every other element is produced out of this one, and this eternal element is called _Âkâsa_. It is somewhat similar to the modern idea of ether, though not exactly the same.
Swami Vivekananda, Jnâna Yoga, Part II
States what Dravya is.
The higher life which belongs to this sphere, this supreme enjoyment of truth, which as feeling is called "blessedness," and as conscious thought "contemplation," we may describe generically as the life known to religion. For religion is just this universal domain[184], in virtue of which the _one_ concrete totality of the World comes to each man in union with himself, as his essential substance, while it remains no…
Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel, The Philosophy of Fine Art, volume 1
States what Dravya is.
Philosophers who discussed Dravya
Related ideas
- Jain philosophy
- Dharma (Jainism)
- Moksha (Jainism)
- Saṃsāra (Jainism)
- Ontology
- Jīva (Jainism)
- Sanskrit
- Vaisheshika
- Jiva
- Jain monasticism
- Champat Rai Jain
- Karma in Jainism
- Siddha
- Encyclopædia Britannica
- Adharma
- Nemichandra
- Ākāśa (Jainism)
- Pudgala
Place in the tradition
Part of Buddhist philosophy.